All Veterans for Kerry brought Del Sandusky, a Vietnam vet who
actually served directly with John Kerry in 1968, to Gainesville, Florida last Wednesday (8-18-04). Sandusky had high praise for Kerry saying, "He would never leave anyone behind."
Unfortunately, a small group of vocal anti-Kerry protesters also attended the meeting.
Sandusky recounted their days patrolling the waters of the Mekong Delta during the Vietnam War. Sandusky, who served as Kerry's crew chief on a swift boat, said Kerry deserved the war medals he won.
Other veterans have claimed that Kerry lied about combat conditions when he won his first Purple Heart.
But Sandusky said those veterans have created a "smear campaign."
"Some of them have stretched truths to the point that they're bald-face lies," Sandusky said. "None of those men served on the same boat Kerry was on - but I did." Gainesville Sun
Not to be outdone by the appearance of someone who actually served with Kerry in Vietnam, The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, Vietnam Veterans Against Kerry and Veterans for Bush will hold a political rally Saturday from 2 to 10 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 8 p.m. at the Downtown Community Plaza.
Fireworks? Keep reading...
Turns out that
MoveOn is planning a "Leave No Voter Behind Kickoff Meeting"_ during the same time period as the anti-Kerry agitators listed above (1:00 pm on Saturday, August 21st). The MoveOn meeting will be
ONE BLOCK from the protester's site.
For anyone attending I strongly encourage you to bring your digital cameras and camcorders... THIS will be fun!
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Complete email from MoveOn.org below...
Dear MoveOn member,
We hope this email finds you well in the aftermath of the hurricane. We've included some information below about ways you can help those in need.
Hurricanes notwithstanding, the momentous election in November continues to approach, and we can't afford to delay in our efforts.
Last week, we launched Leave No Voter Behind, our huge, ambitious battleground-state plan to turn out over 400,000 new voters for Kerry. As you know, Florida is one of the most important swing states in this election, and it could go either way. Together, we can win it for John Kerry. But it's an "all hands on deck" situation, and we all need to help.
On Saturday, August 21st, we're holding an urgent community meeting to discuss how folks here can play a key role. At the meeting, MoveOn staff will explain how we can turn out dozens of new voters in each of our neighborhoods, with help from new technology and folks in non-battleground states. Even if you're not certain you can commit to being part of this program, please come - we'd love to share our plan with you and get your feedback. Here are the details:
Leave No Voter Behind Kickoff Meeting
Saturday, August 21st
1pm
Alachua County Library, Meeting Room A
401 East University Avenue
Gainesville, Florida 32601
If you can come, please sign up at:
http://action.moveon.org/lnvb/